exam3physiological Flashcards
Sensory receptor
A specialized neuron that detects a particular category of pysical events
Sensory transduction
the process by which sensory stimuli are transduced into slow, graded receptor potentials
Receptor potential
a slow, graded electrical potential produced by a receptor cell in response to a physical stimulus
What is the range of the visible light spectrum
380nm (violet)- 760nm (red)
What are the three dimensions of perceived color and their corresponding physcial dimensions?
Hue (wavelength); Saturation (purity of the light); brightness (intensity)
Saccadic movement
the rapid, jerky movement of the eyes used in scanning a visual scene
Pursuity movement
the movement that the eyes make to maintain an image of a moving object on the fovea
Orbits
bony pockets in the fornt of the skull where the eyes are suspended
sclera
tough, white outer coat of the eye that is opaque and prevents entry of light into the eye
conjunctiva
mucous membranes that line the eyelid and fold back to attach to the eye
The anatomy as light travels through the eye
cornea, iris/pupil, lens/ciliary muscles, vitreous humor,retina
ciliary muscles
the muscle fibers that attach to the outer edge of the lens and changes its shape; used for accomodation
accomodation
changes in the thickness of the lens of the eye, accomplished by the ciliary muscles, that focus images of near or distant objects on the retina
vitreous humor
a clear gelatinous substance inside the eye
retina
the neural tissue and photoreceptive cells located on the inner surface of the posterior portion of the eye
rods
one of the recepotr cells of the retina; sensitive to light of low intensity
cones
one of the recepotr cells of the retina; maximally sensitive to one of three different wavelengths of light and hence encodes color vision
photoreceptor
one of the receptor cells of the retina; transduces photic energy into electrical potentials
fovea
the region of the retina that mediates the most acute vision of birds and higher mammals. Color-sensitive cones constitute the only type of photoreceptor found in the fovea
optic disk
the location of the exit point form the retina of the fibers of he ganglion cells that form the optic nerve; responsible for the blind spot
bipolar cell
a bipolar neuron located in the middle layer of the retina, conveying information from the photoreceptors to the ganglion cells
horizontal cell
a neuron in the retina that interconnects adjacent photoreceptors and the outer processes of the bipolar cells
amacrine cell
a neuron in the retina that interconnects adjacent ganglion cells and the inner processes of the bipolar cells
lamella
a layer of membrane containing photopigments; found in rods and cones of the retina
photopigment
a protein dye bonded to retinal, a substance derived from vitamin A; responsible for transduction of visual information
opsin
a class of protein that, together with retinal, constitutes the photopigments
retinal
a chemical synthesized from vitamin A; joins with an opsin to form a photopigment
rhodopsin
a particular opsin found in rods; consists of rod opsin and retinal; splits apart when exposed to light
dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus
a group of cell bodies within the lateral geniculate body of the thalamus; receives inputs from the retina and projects to the primary visual cortex
magnocellular layer
one of the inner two layers of neurons in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus; transmits information necssary for the perception of form, movement, depth, and small differnces in brightness to the primary visual cortex
parvocellular layer
one of the four outer layers of neurons in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus; transmits information necessary for perception of (red and green cones) color and fine details to the primary visual cortex
koniocellular sublayer
one of the sublayerso f neurons in the dorsal lateral genicualte nucleus found ventral to each of the magnocellular and parvocellular layers; transmits information from short-wavelength (“blue”) cones to the priamry visual cortex
retinal disparity
the fact that points on objects located at different distances from the observer will fall on slightly different locations on the two retinas; provides the basis for stereopsis
cytochrome oxidase blobs
the central region of a module of the prmary visual cortex, revealed by a stain for cytochrome oxidase; contains wavelength-sensitive neurons; part of the parvocellular system
what features of a visual stimulus does the striate cortex respond to?
orientation (simple, complex, and hypercomplex cells), movement, spatial frequency (sine-wave grating and spatial frequency), retinal disparity, color (cytochrome oxidase blobs)
extrastriate cortex
a region of the visual association cortex; receives fibers from the striate cortex and from the superior colliculi and projects to the inferior temporal cortex